Standing outside a massive hole in the side of his business, the manager of a Douglasville sporting goods store said Thursday he overestimated the security a solid cement wall could provide.
Overnight, a crew used a U-Haul and another box truck to ram their way inside Gable Sporting Goods on Fairburn Road, according to manager Rome Smith. Employees were still taking inventory, but Smith estimated about two dozen firearms were stolen in the heist, most of them handguns.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Smith said the thieves busted through the wall shortly after 1 a.m. It then took them 58 seconds to grab the guns, scramble back over the debris and drive away, he said.
The entire incident was captured on the store’s security cameras.
“They backed the U-Haul truck through the side of the building, through the block wall, and then pulled it back out,” Smith said. “About six guys run in, gather the guns, put them in the other truck and leave.”
Gable, which has been operated by Smith’s family for generations, typically carries about 1,000 firearms, ammunition and other outdoor and sporting equipment. Smith assumes the crew cased the business before carrying out their plans Thursday morning.
WATCH: U-Haul used as battering ram in gun store burglary, business says - https://t.co/PXclixIaEa pic.twitter.com/V46Ogg4s9u
— John Spink (@johnjspink) November 12, 2020
“It seems very specific on which counters they were targeting, so I definitely feel like they’ve been in here, looking at the place,” he said. “Because they knew exactly where to come in on the side of the building. It was just kind of the perfect storm.”
Douglasville police are investigating. According to the police department, the U-Haul was recovered later Thursday in Atlanta, but authorities are still looking for the second white box truck.
On 11/12/20 a burglary occurred at Gables Sporting Goods on Fairburn Road in Douglasville at around 1:30am. Suspects...
Posted by Douglasville Police Department on Thursday, November 12, 2020
Smith said he is hopeful investigators will be able to identify the suspects by looking at the store’s surveillance footage. He believes it’s only a matter of time before one of the stolen weapons winds up in a pawn shop.
“They will get these out on the street, and hopefully somebody will find them and give us a clue of who did this,” he said.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
